Listen to the Voice of Authority

 

It’s been a while since I posted anything from my favorite On-U Sound & Adrian Sherwood. Time to remedy that right now. Very Big in America Right Now is an Adrian Sherwood production & was originally intended for release as On-U LP35. It never saw release with On-U & was released in 1984 by Cherry Red.

 

From Cherry Red:
     "Dubbed the first in a series of Science Fiction Dancehall Classics, this was actually the last record released under our collaboration with Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound. Released originally at a time when Adrian was working with such artists as Depeche Mode it still retains the On-U Sound dedication to charting new territory."

 

With just one album to their name, Voice of Authority were a passing phenomenon, but one where Adrian Sherwood continued to break new sonic ground. Voice of Authority was yet another of those non-bands whose names roamed the corridors of On-U HQ in the 1982-4 period in the same ilk as Playgroup & the unforgettable Missing Brazilians. These band names were more like working titles for particular collaborations of recording musicians in a world that insisted on hanging a name on any group of people who happen to release a record. 

 

The dub styling of On-U Sound in this period was one of taking the experimental nature of groups like New Age Steppers, then developing the sound one step further with quirky samples, distortion, electronic ditties, & sudden tape winds all lending their part to making an edgy but fresh listening experience. Listening to this album today, it still sounds as off-beat yet timeless as it did when it first came out. 

 

Here Voice of Authority is: Kishi Yamamoto – keyboards; Nick Plytas – keyboards; Evar Wellington – bass; Prisoner – drums; with Charles ‘Eskimo Fox’ Mus’come – drums on “Feeling Wild”, Shara Nelson – vocals on “In Another World”; Keith ‘Lizard’ Logan – vocals on “ Stopping & Starting” & Mark Stewart & a cast of others.

Voice of Authority – Very Big in America Right Now, Cherry Red BRED 62, 1984.

decryption code in comments

Side One –

Short Intro/Knock the House Down
Very Big in America Right Now
Middle East Power Station
In Another World

Side Two –

Stopping & Starting
Technical Miracle
Slipped Disco
Grand Prix
Feeling Wild

Dubwise forever,
NØ